


Work Related

by catsaremyboyfriend



Series: Asexual Snuggle Buddies [10]
Category: Hawkeye (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Other, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-08
Updated: 2014-12-08
Packaged: 2018-02-28 14:10:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2735510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catsaremyboyfriend/pseuds/catsaremyboyfriend
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Alright, okay, so. It took me forever to come up with a soulmate for Sam Wilson, cause I love him. I can ship him with Captain America or Natasha or Captain America and Natasha, but I wanted just Bucky/Cap and also lesbians for this story, so I couldn't fit him in there. So I thought, maybe Angel? There's the whole flying thing, but Angel's kind of a prat. I actually love Sam with Clint, but...duh. No. I've seen Sam Wilson/Sif, but that's not my ship. Then I was like, holy shit, /Gamora/ Another character I just love, but she hasn't shown up yet. Also, I love relaxed, friendly characters paired with serious, angry characters. He's not as goofy as Quill, who I don't ship with her, but he's not too serious either, and also they would be adorable together, because they are beautiful people. I can see a whole, she's always away in space and he misses her like crazy and they video chat every night and sometimes Gamora is covered in the blood of her enemies or she has Quill in a headlock and Groot pokes his head into the frame and waves with twiggy fingers. Sam tells her about Riley and sends her the designs on his wings and when she's on Earth they spar and have romantic, sensitive sex and she opens up about Thanos, about being tied to a table while her body was ripped open and made something monstrous and about her family and what she's done, what she's been made to do, but Sam is loyal and never flinches away from her truth. Okay. Yeah. So. I am /very/ /intense/ about Sam Wilson, okay? Oh, also, a lot of this is super fluffy, even for me. I love the holidays, and there's going to be a super embarrassing Christmas story that will just be grossly adorable and sweet and everyone will be happy and they'll tie ribbons to Stark's armor and put candy cane magnets on Bucky's arm and this is very long but yeah. Preview.</p></blockquote>





	Work Related

He’s in Avengers Tower with Nat, both of them bitching about Reed Richards, when Bucky walks by with his arm around Cap’s shoulder, both of them grinning. Bucky looks like he did in the old photos, the way he only looks around Cap. 

“An’ then I said, swear t’God, Stevie, I said, ‘Lemme give you a hand.’ I’m covered in blood, the cakes are melting, and my arm’s hangin’ on by a wire. The guy starts crying, then just keels over. Heard he quit SHIELD a month later.” 

Cap starts laughing in big dorky snorts, Bucky’s got that smug little grin he gets whenever he makes Cap happy, and Nat’s giving them the soft smile she saves for close friends. Bucky nods as they walk by, says something in Greek to Nat, and tows Cap out, still laughing.

Darcy follows soon after, looking harried as she types rapidly on her phone. She drops a kiss on Nat’s head and squeezes Clint’s shoulder before she plops down on Nat’s lap, still typing. Clint can see the words along her left arm, Nat’s ‘ _You’re my soulmate._ ’ He knows that Nat has, ‘ _Hi, I’m Darcy Lewis_ ’ along her inner thigh.

He also knows that Nat avoided meeting Darcy for months, like the emotionally constipated ex-assassin she is, and that he had to force her to meet Darcy, which is…exactly what she did to him with Kate. Huh. Darcy leans her head back on Nat’s shoulder, glasses sliding over her forehead. 

“Ugh, Tony just texted me that Deadpool’s back in town, which, okay, he’s with Spiderman, I get it, but come _on_. We all know that about fifty people are going to get maimed or something else awful, I have to help arrange a whole team just to watch him, and on top of everything Bruce just pulled the ‘I’m a sad, sad little rage monster’ shtick again, and locked himself in the lab for like sixty years, I don’t even know, I had to get Tony to repulsor blast the door down cause Bruce shut off Jarvis, and then I spent the next twenty minutes stopping him from Hulking out, he almost broke my fucking wrist, poor guy, like he needs that on top of everything…” 

Clint sees the way Nat’s face gets all cold when Darcy mentioned almost getting hurt by Hulk, so he gets off the couch and slowly edges himself out of the room. Darcy’s continuous brushes with danger and Nat’s _intense_ overprotectiveness are none of his business. He’s out the door as he hears Nat’s soft, gentle, “Darcy, if Hulk hurts you, I’ll have to-” He’s gone before the end of that sentence.  
_______________________________  
Sometimes he marvels at Darcy’s ability to make friends. He swears she has some sort of mutant power. He watches her fistbump Quill and rub a palm over Rocket’s head one day, then chat casually with fucking Punisher the next. She has drinks with Rogue and Kitty Pryde once a month, and she shops for shoes with White Tiger.

Doctor Strange gives her protective amulets. Pepper sends her Christmas cards. It’s weird as hell, he tells Kate, who rolls her eyes. “I know this might sound strange to you, Clint, but some people are actually likeable.” He pouts and she laughs, stealing a Cheeto.  
_____________________________________________  
They’re patching up after a battle, home at last. He likes Avengers Tower alright, and Nat loves living there, but it’s too much. Too rich. He asked Kate once if she wanted to live there, but she’d just snorted.

“Please. How would I survive without Simone’s hot chocolate?” She’d come from behind and curled both arms over his shoulders, whispered, “Plus, it’s quiet here, and your renters are good people. They remind me who I’m fighting for.” He loves Kate so much. 

She’s winding a long strip of gauze around her calf, tongue sticking out in concentration. He puts a hand on her knee and squeezes. She curls a palm around the back of his neck and finishes her work.  
_________________________________  
He’s buying bananas, chatting idly with the cashier. “Oh, I’ve seen _lots_ of superheroes. I see the Hawkeyes all the time,” she brags, glaring down at the bar code on his fruit. “Damn thing won’t go through,” she mutters.

“Oh, wow, really? The Hawkeyes? What do they look like?” he says, pleased as punch to be lumped as a unit with Kate. 

She glances up, then narrows her eyes. “Like you, sonny. I’m not an idiot.” 

He holds his hands up, grinning. “I know, ma’am. Sorry.” He lets the country drip through his voice. Women love the drawl. 

“Mhm.”

He shuffles his feet, digging out his wallet. “Um, anyway, here’s the cash…” 

“Oh, no. It’s free. You do good work, son, even if you make fun of poor old ladies.” He glances up and she’s smirking. He thanks her, slips a ten across anyway, and heads home to Kate.  
_______________________________  
He’s been fighting for five hours, something with tentacles and a beak and some sort of pus that melts skin. He’s got burns all along his arm and chest, splattered across his chin. Logan’s entire body has been stripped down to bone about four times, which means Storm is sparking angrily everywhere, so add electric shock to his injuries. They beat the thing by having Thor toss it into space, which should’ve been obvious. 

Nat brings him home on her bike, which is large and badass. He wraps both arms around her waist and clings, cause she drives like a maniac. She curses in Russian during traffic, makes rude hand gestures from a variety of countries. Today they’re both quiet, though. 

There’s a long patch of skin slowly healing on her forehead. He knows Nat isn’t quite human, but she’s not like Bucky or Cap. He’s never asked just how different she really is. Nat’s Nat, that’s all he cares about. 

He leans his forehead against the crook of her neck. Everything hurts, even his toes. Especially his toes. He ran out of arrows near the end and just started kicking. She drops him off in front of his building without a word, but neither of them are angry. She smirks and punches lightly at his shoulder as he goes. 

 

Kate’s waiting with painkillers and a first aid kit, because she’s an angel who Clint will never deserve. “Hey, Katie-Kate,” he says as he falls face down on the couch. Ow. 

“That shot you got at the thing’s eye was _awesome_ ,” she tells him, tugging him up and his shirt off. “But you’re shit at dodging acidic pus.” He just whines and tips his head back as she cleans out his burns. “Also, half-naked Spiderman is all over Twitter. He really needs to get a burn resistant suit.” 

“M’sure you loved it,” he mumbles, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. 

She touches delicately at his shoulder blades and the small of his back. “It’s pretty deep here. Gonna hurt.”

“Had worse.” He’s so _tired_.

“Yeah, yeah, tough guy.” He winces a bit, but it’s not too bad. She bandages him up, kisses his nose, and stands. “I’ve got chicken pot pie.” Comfort food. Kate’s big on comfort food. 

He takes his aides out as she leaves, cause his head is starting to hurt. She slips easily into sign language when she comes back in, holding two steaming trays.  
_________________________________  
They go out jogging with Lucky every morning. Kate wears special, thermodynamic pants and sneakers that make your stride longer and a sports bra from the future, probably. He just wears whatever his hands touch first. They never go through Central Park. 

He likes the steady beat of his feet on the pavement, Kate’s even breathing at his side. Running makes his chest burn and his heart throb. Sometimes Bucky joins them, but he gets all impatient and laps them about fifty times. Super soldiers, Clint mutters, and rolls his eyes at Kate. 

After running, they have breakfast at a small coffee shop where people don’t make a big deal about superheroes. Bucky never goes there cause the store owner won’t let him sweep for bugs. She’s a tiny Irish lady who might actually be older than Bucky, which is saying something. 

She doesn’t seem to be afraid when he turns on the Soldier’s dead-eyed stare and glowers at her. Which is impressive, cause even Stark gets nervous when he does that. Clint, personally, thinks the stare is cool as hell, but Kate says that’s because he has no sense of self preservation.  
________________________________________  
He wakes up from a dream where he’s back in the circus and all his friends are falling, over and over. Nat’s curls turned redder with blood, Bobbi reaching uselessly for him, Bucky’s face desperate as he clings to Cap.

Kate’s murmuring, running her hands up and down his spine. He has his fingers curled so tightly in her shirt that his knuckles are white. She pushes her nose against his temple, speaking loudly enough that he can hear, though her words are muffled. 

“A nightmare, Clint, just a nightmare.” He shuts his eyes tight and nods. He puts his head to her throat so he can feel her vocal cords vibrate as she talks, even if he can’t hear her.  
____________________________  
“Kate, if I have to watch you try on one more dress, I’m going to become a super villain and only target high-end boutiques,” he complains over his armful of bags. “Also, just because I have the best biceps in the Avengers doesn’t mean my arms don’t get tired when I’m carrying _hundreds of clothes_.” 

“Please. Everyone knows that Thor has the best biceps.” She peeks over the dressing room door and laughs at him. He sticks his tongue out at her as she emerges in a black dress that looks like every other black dress she’s put on. He groans. “Ten more minutes and we’ll head to the food court,” she promises. 

“I’m surprised a place this fancy has a food court.”

“Yeah, me too. I think that’s why Natasha shops here.”

“Nat likes this place? Color me unsurprised.” Nat will shop anywhere expensive. He’d teased her about it once, but he was wearing jeans with a hole in the crotch at the time, so she had the upper hand. Nat usually does.

They go to the food court and there’s _caviar_ being served. _Caviar_. He’s from the Midwest. If it’s not deep fried, he doesn’t know what to do with it. 

He gets pizza with bacon bits from free running pigs or something and tries to look like he fits in. Which, he’s an Avenger. It’s not like he’s unworthy.

Kate kicks him in the shin. “You’re looking all introspective. Stop.” He frowns and rubs his ankle. “If you’re gonna be pouty, we can buy you a nice new suit,” she says hopefully. “The sales people will go _bonkers_ over your shoulders.”

“There is no force on Earth that could get me back in those dressing rooms,” he says, grinning.

“I should call Quill then,” she smirks. He tosses bacon at her.  
_____________________________________  
Kate’s gone for the week, bonding with her team. He misses her like a constant ache. Nat rolls her eyes and says something about codependence in Russian. Cap pats him gently on the shoulder, but he lost Bucky for seventy years, so Clint can’t complain. Punisher has his dead wife’s words across his throat, and Clint tries to imagine what he’d turn into if Kate died. It’s an ugly picture. 

He fights the Russians a few times, goes on a very brief mission with Bobbi. She ends up having to punch him in the face, so that’s fun. He goes out for beers with Bucky, Cap, and Sam Wilson, who has Gamora’s, ‘ _You are proficient, for a human_ ,” curling behind his ear.

It’s rumored she has, “ _Well, you’re just plain beautiful, baby girl_ ,’ along one ass cheek. Clint doesn’t ask. He has a good time, but wishes Kate was here.

She comes home bronzed, with the purple streak in her hair retouched. “I beat up like five guys for kicking a dog,” she says before he even gets a hello out. 

“I’m so proud,” he drawls, winding his arms around her, squeezing tight. “I missed you.” 

“Missed you, too,” she says as Lucky jumps on them, just as ecstatic to see Kate as Clint is.

“I’ve been living off pizza and coffee,” he confesses. 

“Seriously, you making it to thirty is a miracle.”

He shrugs. “I ate a military diet for a long time, Kate. Dunno how to feed myself without you.”

“Uh huh.” He grins and hugs her again, so damn happy just to have her back.

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, okay, so. It took me forever to come up with a soulmate for Sam Wilson, cause I love him. I can ship him with Captain America or Natasha or Captain America and Natasha, but I wanted just Bucky/Cap and also lesbians for this story, so I couldn't fit him in there. So I thought, maybe Angel? There's the whole flying thing, but Angel's kind of a prat. I actually love Sam with Clint, but...duh. No. I've seen Sam Wilson/Sif, but that's not my ship. Then I was like, holy shit, /Gamora/ Another character I just love, but she hasn't shown up yet. Also, I love relaxed, friendly characters paired with serious, angry characters. He's not as goofy as Quill, who I don't ship with her, but he's not too serious either, and also they would be adorable together, because they are beautiful people. I can see a whole, she's always away in space and he misses her like crazy and they video chat every night and sometimes Gamora is covered in the blood of her enemies or she has Quill in a headlock and Groot pokes his head into the frame and waves with twiggy fingers. Sam tells her about Riley and sends her the designs on his wings and when she's on Earth they spar and have romantic, sensitive sex and she opens up about Thanos, about being tied to a table while her body was ripped open and made something monstrous and about her family and what she's done, what she's been made to do, but Sam is loyal and never flinches away from her truth. Okay. Yeah. So. I am /very/ /intense/ about Sam Wilson, okay? Oh, also, a lot of this is super fluffy, even for me. I love the holidays, and there's going to be a super embarrassing Christmas story that will just be grossly adorable and sweet and everyone will be happy and they'll tie ribbons to Stark's armor and put candy cane magnets on Bucky's arm and this is very long but yeah. Preview.


End file.
